The Long Walk

The novel depicts female characters through three lenses: Garraty’s internal monologue, diegetic action, and the narrator’s perspective. To what extent do the female characters have agency as opposed to remaining objectified? How does one of the three aforementioned lenses support your claim?

King offers little explicit worldbuilding; the reader never learns about the origin of the Walk, how long it has been going on, or why people continue to support it. How does this choice support the theme of Resisting Oppression?

Garraty encounters several types of spectators. Why are people drawn to the Walk? What does King suggest about the relationship between spectacle, entertainment, and violence?

To what extent do alliances and rivalries affect survival during the Walk, and what does this express about King’s perspective on the role of rivalries and alliances in coming of age?

Many of the boys are motivated by the monetary Prize. Do you think the Walk suggests that capitalism prevails, or is money ultimately meaningless? Reference the text to support your position.

The boys make several literary allusions, often reflecting on how these references pertain to their current situation. How do these literary references help ground the boys? Conversely, to what extent do these references enable escapism?

The epigraphs at the beginning of each chapter feature quotations from game shows, sporting events, and war speeches. What is the rhetorical effect of juxtaposing these quotes with the text? How do they set the tone of the novel?

Three commonly depicted types of conflict in literature are man versus self, man versus man, and man versus nature. What is the central conflict of this text? Why?